sayre2e ch22 integrated_lecture_pp_ts-150663

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Jan Vermeer. The Geographer. 1668-69.20-1/8" × 18-1/4”.


Jan Christaensz-Micker. View of Amsterdam. ca. 1630.39-3/8" × 54”.

Calvinist Amsterdam: City of Contradictions

What forces were at work in Amsterdam in the seventeenth century?

• Gaining Independence from Spain — From Spain, Philip II tried unsuccessfully to impose Catholic rule on the north, but the Calvinists roundly rejected this move. The United Provinces of the Netherlands was formed after the “Spanish Fury.” The northern provinces felt that Antwerp was too closely associated with the Spanish, Amsterdam closed the port of Antwerp thus halting commerce. What Antwerp has been to the sixteenth century, Amsterdam would be to the seventeenth.

• Tulipomania — Amsterdam’s commercial success and the wealth at its disposal is captured in the great tulip “madness” of 1634-1637. During those years, frenzied speculation in tulip bulbs nearly ruined the entire Dutch economy.

• The Dutch Reformed Church: Strict Doctrine and Whitewashed Spaces — The excesses of Dutch society so evident in the tulip craze were strongly countered by the conservatism of the Calvinist Dutch Reformed Church, which actively opposed speculation in the tulip market. The doctrinal rigidity of the Reformed Church is reflected in the austerity of its churches.

• Discussion Question: What does the Tulipomania episode suggest about the mindset and values of a commercially-oriented society?


Map: The United Provinces of the Netherlands in 1648.


Illustration from the Tulip Book of P. Cos. 1637.


Pieter Saenredam. Interior of the Choir of Saint Bavo’s Church at Haarlem. 1660.

22-7/8" × 21-5/8”.

The Science of Observation

How did the developments in philosophy and science underpin the Dutch attention to visual detail?

• Francis Bacon and the Empirical Method — One of the most fundamental principles guiding the new science was the idea that, through the direct and careful observation of natural phenomena, one could draw general conclusions from particular examples. The leading advocate of the empirical method was Francis Bacon.

• Rene Descartes and the Deductive Method — Descartes proceeds to his conclusions through deductive reasoning. He began with clearly established general principles and moved from those to the establishment of particular truths. At the heart of Descartes’ thinking is an absolute distinction between mind and matter, a system of oppositions that has come to be known as Cartesian dualism.

• Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei, and the Telescope — Kepler made detailed records of the movements of the planets, substantiating Copernicus’s theory that the planets orbited the sun, not the Earth. Galileo improved the design and magnification of the telescope. He proposed that all objects, regardless of shape, size, or density, fall at the same rate of acceleration.

• Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Robert Hooke, and the Microscope — At the end of the sixteenth century, it was discovered that if one looked through several lenses in a single tube, nearby objects appeared greatly magnified. This discovery led to the compound microscope. Van Leeuwenhoek was able to grain a lens that magnified over 200 times. He was inspired by Robert Hooke.

• Discussion Question: What are the most important scientific discoveries during the seventeenth century in the north?


Frans Hals. Portrait of René Descartes. 1649.7-3/8" × 5-1/2”.


Illustration from René Descartes, Optics (La Dioptrique), Leiden, 1637: The theory of the retinal image as described by Johannes Kepler. 1637.


An artist drawing in a large camera obscura.


Illustration from Robert Hooke's Micrographia, London, 1665: A flea. 1665.


Illustration from Robert Hooke's Micrographia, London, 1665: A slice of cork. 1665.

Dutch Vernacular Painting: Art of the Familiar

How does the vernacular manifest itself in Dutch painting?

• Still Lifes — Paintings dedicated to the representation of common household objects and food. Their subject is also the foolishness of believing in an apparent ease of life.

• Landscapes — Landscape paintings reflect national pride in the country’s reclamation of its land from the sea.

• Genre Scenes — Paintings that depict events from everyday life are typical of genre scenes.

• Johannes Vermeer and the Domestic Scene — Vermeer was a keen observer of his world. His paintings illuminate—and celebrate– the material reality of Dutch life. His paintings of interiors are a celebration of Dutch domestic culture.

• The Group Portrait — A large canvas commissioned by a civic institution to document or commemorate its membership at a particular time.

• Rembrandt van Rijn and the Drama of Light — In the hand of Rembrandt, the group portrait took on an even more heightened sense of drama such as The Night Watch (Captain Frans Banning Cocq Mustering His Company). Of all the artists of his era, Rembrandt was the most interested in self-portraiture; over 60 survive.

• Discussion Question: What are the important characteristics of seventeenth century northern painting?


Johannes Goedaert. Flowers in a Wan-li Vase with Blue-Tit. ca. 1660.


Jacob van Ruisdael. View of Haarlem from the Dunes at Overveen. ca. 1670.

22" × 24-3/8”.


Jan Steen. The Dancing Couple. 1663.40-3/8" × 56-1/2”.


Judith Leyster. The Proposition. 1631.11-7/8" × 9-1/2”.


Jan Vermeer. Woman with a Pearl Necklace. ca. 1664.22-5/32" × 17-3/4”.


Jan Vermeer. The Little Street. 1657-58.21-1/16" × 17-1/8”.


Frans Hals. Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Civic Guard. 1616.68-7/8" × 137-1/2”.


Rembrandt van Rijn. Captain Frans Banning Cocq Mustering His Company (The Night Watch). 1642.

11’ 11" × 14’ 4”.


Rembrandt van Rijn. Christ Preaching (the “Hundred-Guilder Print”). ca. 1648-50.

11" × 15-1/2”.

Studio Technique Video: Intaglio: Etching with Acid and Drypoint Etching

MyArtsLabChapter 22 – The Secular Baroque in the North: the Art of Observation

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/art/MAL/videos/process_videos/etching-large.html

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/art/MAL/videos/process_videos/etching-large.html

http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/html/ancient_athens_parthExSw.htm

http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/related_sites/acropolis_360_public/html/1_5/1.3_01.html

http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/html/ancient_athens_parthExW2.htm

http://www.learn.columbia.edu/ha/html/ancient_athens_parthExW.htm

http://www.myartslab.com/

Closer Look: Rembrandt, The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp


http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/shared_hss_assets/art/WPSGlobalModules/guided_tours/FB_26/index.html

http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/shared_hss_assets/art/WPSGlobalModules/guided_tours/FB_26/index.html







Rembrandt van Rijn. Closer Look: The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp. 1632.5’ 3-3/4" × 7’ 1-1/4”.


Rembrandt van Rijn. Slaughtered Ox. 1655.37" × 27-1/8”.

The Baroque Keyboard

What are the characteristic features of Baroque keyboard music?

• Jan Pieterszoon Sweelinck’s Fantasies for the Organ — Sweelinck was the official organist of Amsterdam. He was famous for his preludes and postludes to church services, which were virtuoso improvisations. He was especially noted for his fantasias, keyboard works that lack a conventional structure but follow the composer’s free flight of fantasy.

• The North German School: Johann Sebastian Bach — Bach sought to convey the devotional piety of the Protestant tradition through his religious music. He wrote most of the music for the Lutheran church services in Leipzig and he also composed a cantata, a multimovement musical commentary sung by soloists and chorus usually accompanied by the organ. Bach wrote instrumental music for almost all occasions, including funerals, marriages, and civic celebrations. The six Brandenburg concertos are among his most famous instrumental works.

• Discussion Question: How do the composers of this era reflect the vision of the church and at the same time become innovators of a new and original music?


Rembrandt van Rijn. Self-portrait. Signed and dated on the arm of the chair at right: Rembrandt/f.1658. 1658.

52-5/8" × 40-7/8”.


Jan Vermeer. Lady at the Virginal with a Gentleman (The Music Lesson). ca. 1662-64.

29-1/8" × 25-3/8”.

Closer Look: The Baroque Organ


http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/music/closer_looks/baroque_organ/web/baroque_organ.html






Closer Look: Bach’s World


http://media.pearsoncmg.com/ph/hss/SSA_SHARED_MEDIA_1/music/closer_looks/bachs_world/web/bachs_world.html






Active Listening Guide: Bach: Cantata No. 78 "Jesu, der du meine Seele", I





Active Listening Guide: Bach: Brandenburg Concerto No. 2, III


Active Listening Guide: Bach: Fugue No. 5 in D major from Book 2 of The Well Tempered Klavier



Dirk Stoop. Clavichord with painted images. ca. 1660-80.4" × 32-1/2" × 10-3/4”.


Rembrandt van Rijn. Continuity & Change: Descent from the Cross. ca. 1633.

35-1/4" × 25-5/8”.


Peter Paul Rubens. Continuity & Change: Descent from the Cross. 1611-14.

13’ 9-5/8" × 10’ 2”.

sayre2e ch22 integrated_lecture_pp_ts-150663

Spiritual

dutch painting

dutch vernacular painting

excesses of dutch society

tulip bulbs

paintings of interiors

tulip craze

genre scenes paintings

lifes paintings